How To Reduce Chrome’s CPU Usage By Suspending Tabs

One complaint that many Chrome users have is that the browser consumes a good amount of CPU resources. So if you’re thinking to reduce this CPU usage, then here’s a Chrome extension that you should definitely try out.

This Chrome extension helps you reduce the memory footprint

Enter The Great Suspender, a Chrome extension that helps you reduce the memory footprint of Chrome by suspending tabs, while also making them available in your tab bar. This extension is specially for those who research a lot on the web and always have many tabs open in the browser, and want to keep all those tabs visible but not drain CPU usage. The performance difference can be easily noticed on low-end systems, or on those systems that have less RAM.

To install this extension, head over to the Chrome web store and click on the “Free” button. Once installed, you’ll be able to see a new face type icon in the toolbar. Click on it and then you’ll be able to see four options: Suspend this tab, Suspend all tabs, Reload all tabs and Settings. Click on “Suspend this tab” to suspend the currently open tab in Chrome. You’ll now see that the page will reload and there will be a message that says “Tab suspended: click to reload.” Now that the tab is suspended, you can continue your work. You can load this tab again whenever you wish to.

Click on “Settings” to open settings page. From here, you can turn on screen capturing, configure the extension to automatically unsuspend when tab gains focus or whitelist certain web pages to avoid automatic suspension. If you want to automatically suspend web pages, then you can choose the duration from the dropdown menu.

Overall, the extension works as promised and reduces memory usage of Chrome, but also ensuring that your tabs return to you when you need them.